وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا بَقَرَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًا ۖ قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ
Wa iz qaala Moosaa li qawmihee innallaaha ya'murukum an tazbahoo baqarah; qaalooo atattakhizunaa huzuwan qaala a'oozu billaahi an akoona minal jaahileen
And when Musa said to his people, "God commands you to slaughter a cow," they said, "Are you mocking us?" He said, "I seek refuge in God from being among the ignorant."
This cow gives the surah its name, though the episode occupies seven verses out of two hundred and eighty-six and sits inside a much longer address. Hazuwan, the charge they bring, means mockery, and Musa answers it by seeking refuge rather than by arguing, which concedes nothing and defends nothing. The command as first given is plain and carries no specification at all.